I found this site about a week ago and have been reading it every chance I get.

A little background...

I am white with thick wavy hair and my DH is black. Our son has thin but very curly hair. We have always cut it short but recently have started to let it grow.

He takes a shower 3 nights a week and we would wash his hair with Burts Bees Baby Shampoo, condition with whatever we had in the shower and then put some Bumble & Bumble Curl Conscious in his hair. In the morning I would put some sort of shine stuff on it.

However, the longer his hair gets the more I know what we ard doing is not working. His hair look dry and frizzy, the curls are not defined and he looks very fuzzy.

So last night we washed with a Suave Clarifyer to get any build up out. Then cond wash with Suave Naturals. I used the California Baby Calming Baby conditioner as a leave in.

My questions to you wonderful ladies is, what next?

I am pretty sure he needs a good creme or gel to hold his curls in place and define them. In the morning I think he needs a good detangler and defrizzer.

could you try using the california baby as a co wash as well as a leave in? in our house, we really only shampoo once a week at most. the rest of the time we do co washes or or just rinse with water (all of us are curlies). so maybe you could cut down on the shampoo as well. and i know burts bees is gentle, but its not very moisturizing. especially if he has dry hair.
try getting him a satin pillowcase as well. that will change his life! it doesnt make your hair as dry as cotton does and it will probably cut back on frizz as well. as for gel, i would recommend aubrey organics mandarin magic jelly, kinky curly curling custard, or regular aloe vera gel.

What subbrock said is very on point. That's basically what I did to curb the dryness in my kids hair who are multiracial (ie. once week wash, one/two cowashes per week, daily misting if needed). Only things I could think to add:

[]After a rinse or co-wash, and you apply your leave-in, use tiny bit of Camellia Seed Oil or Avocado Oil or Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Coconut Oil once you get over his dryness issues) to his hair to seal in the moisture. The first two oils help retain moisture well and aren't greasy, and Coconut Oil also helps strengthen hair (but might dry out already dry hair since it has affinity for protein in hair). You can do that over or under a hair gel. And, I second using Aubrey Organics Madarin Magic Jelly. Your son's hair looks exactly like my son's hair did when he was 4--he's had change in curls from loose ones to more of them being corkscrews--but that's what I do to his hair.

[]Instead of those oils you could try Jane Carter Nourish and Shine. I can't use too much on my kids hair or else it gets gunky fast, but it helps with frizzes and smoothing down hair when applied in small amounts to frizz prone areas. In combo with the satin pillowcase subbrock recommended you could see great drop in frizziness.

[]Another gel to try is Kiss My Face Upper Management Gel. It has a humectant in it, so if you have a very dry climate often, then I'd skip it. Also, I wouldn't start to use it until you see a change in the dryness of your son's hair since humectants like glycerin could pull moisture from hair in dry climes. Once dryness is under control, and you apply to damp hair, it's a great gel. It is slightly second to Aubrey's gel in terms of moisture retention, but I like the way it helps hold tighter curls slightly more than Aubrey's.

[]I have yet to find a detangler product that works for my kids SL to WL hair. Would love to find one, so then I wouldn't have to mix a lot of things together. Best thing so far has been diluting a very moisturizing and slip providing conditioner (that has ingredients like Aloe, Irish Moss, Marshmallow Root, Sliperry Elm) with distilled water and tiny bit of oil, putting it in spray bottle, spraying on their hair, gently smoothing it into their hair, and detangle. I also use that as a curl refresher sometimes (and then seal with tiny amount of oil after spraying the hair), keep it in the fridge, and make daily (which all equals why I'm so ready for a good single detanlger product).

[]Another way to refresh curls is to wet your hands, run them over surface of hair or use a spray bottle to lightly dampen hair, run small amount of conditioner over that, apply tiny amount of gel if needed, gently form/smooth the curls via hand if needed, and have your son lightly shake his head to give volume and further define curls. I do that for my son and myself to get 2nd & 3rd day and beyond hair.

[]Once your son's hair becomes really long, like SL when stretched, you could try making some loose braids in his hair when his hair is damp, has leave-in applied and tiny bit of oil/butter/gel or a combo of them over the leave-in. Have him sleep on that satin pillowcase. Then, undo the braids in the morning, fingerstyle the hair to achieve the perfect little guy look. I make three fat braids in my sons hair, horizontal sectioning with the braid placed in the middle of each section, so that it's easier to make the hair fall into place the way he likes it and so not to have parts show that could make the style feminine. He wears his hair out and back like Corbin Blue, where the curls fall where they may. Also tried the 'boy pineapple' method where postion the ponytail loosely further back in head like the guy in movie Illegal Tender, have him sleep on satin pillowcase, and then in morning take ponytail down and fingerstyle. Find his hair stays moisturized and the curls in place so that I don't have to keep applying product or do much more than move certain curls on most days.

Sorry if I wrote too much. I'm keyboard-happy right now thx to coffee.